Packing List

The next major Thailand task is to decide what I’m going to be taking with me. It helps having already been over there. In fact, when I returned from my last Asia adventure, I made a point of identifying anything that might be useful on a return trip, but was not needed for my U.S. lifestyle (e.g. extra washcloth, insect repellant, condoms). These were stashed away in a small garbage bag so I could easily retrieve them. (Part of me knew that I’d someday be going back.) There’s also a Word document on my PC containing important travel items to bring along, which will serve as a useful starting point.

For a tropical climate, the key is not so much what clothes you bring (t-shirts & shorts being sufficient), but what medicines you take along. You never have to worry about getting too cold, just getting sick, usually from the food or the flu. To that end, one should have the means to deal with cramps, diarrhea, nausea, headaches, congestion and coughing. (Really sounds like I’m going to have a fun time, doesn’t it?) To be sure, most if not all of the remedies to these can be purchased from a Thai pharmacy, but I’ve discovered, to my extreme annoyance, that foreign medicines are usually much wimpier than their U.S. counterparts. Better to bring stuff you know will work.